The present invention relates to small clips and more particularly to small attachment clips having gripping prongs on their ends.
Pronged clips such as those described herein are typically used by dry cleaners and laundries for fastening skirts, dresses, ties and other articles to wire clothes hangers. Additionally, such pronged clips have been used for attachment of cards or tags to various articles for the purposes of identification.
Prior art clips and their methods of manufacture produce a relatively large amount of scrap. Scrap is costly to manufacturers as it represents wasted material. Additionally, the prior art processes of forming pronged clips have required complex tooling and numerous forming and stamping operations. This has dramatically reduced the production rate of pronged clips and increased the cost of their manufacture. Highest among these costs are the down time and labor associated with sharpening the required tooling.
There is therefore a need in the art to provide a pronged clip and method for its manufacture which can produce pronged clips at manufacturing rates much higher than those taught by the prior art. Such pronged clip design and method of manufacture should eliminate scrap, and should not require the use of complex tooling or excessive tool maintenance.